(7) Iris
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	23 Dec 2024	10.0	1.936 AU	2.164 AU	22h18m	-05°18'	63.5°	27.0°
Opposition	27 Feb 2026	8.9	2.491 AU	1.508 AU	10h28m	-00°05'	171.0°	3.6°

The interactive orbit chart above shows the body's path through the solar system and its position at the given date. Green and blue lines are shown perpendicular to the ecliptic plane: Green if the path is above the ecliptic plane, blue if it is below. (Left-click and drag to rotate the view; Right-click and drag to move the view; Use scroll wheel to zoom in our out.)

The orbital elements of Iris are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2298579
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.3860452
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.51948
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 259.49897
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 145.52013
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 314.75784
            Epoch                           : 2024 Oct 17

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 225.14325
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 3.12138
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.69            
        

The light curve chart below shows the estimated development of the minor planet's magnitude.

The all-sky chart below shows the path of the minor planet over the same period as the light curve. The current position is marked yellow.

The following chart shows the path of the minor planet in the next few days. The field of view is optimized for (~10x50) binoculars and finderscopes. A more printer-friendly version of the same chart can be found below.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2024-12-23 00:00 UT   22 18 59.7   -05 18 20     2.164    1.936   63.5   27.0    66   10.0 
2024-12-23 18:20 UT   22 20 28.0   -05 11 15     2.170    1.935   63.1   27.0    66   10.0 
2024-12-24 00:00 UT   22 20 55.4   -05 09 03     2.172    1.934   63.0   26.9    66   10.0 
2024-12-25 00:00 UT   22 22 51.5   -04 59 39     2.180    1.932   62.4   26.8    66   10.0 
2024-12-26 00:00 UT   22 24 48.1   -04 50 10     2.187    1.931   61.9   26.7    66   10.0 
2024-12-27 00:00 UT   22 26 45.3   -04 40 34     2.195    1.929   61.4   26.6    66   10.0 
2024-12-28 00:00 UT   22 28 42.8   -04 30 51     2.203    1.927   60.9   26.5    66   10.0 
2024-12-29 00:00 UT   22 30 40.9   -04 21 03     2.210    1.925   60.4   26.4    66   10.0 
2024-12-30 00:00 UT   22 32 39.4   -04 11 09     2.218    1.924   59.9   26.3    66   10.0 
2024-12-31 00:00 UT   22 34 38.3   -04 01 09     2.226    1.922   59.4   26.1    65   10.0 
2025-01-01 00:00 UT   22 36 37.7   -03 51 03     2.233    1.920   58.9   26.0    65   10.0 
2025-01-02 00:00 UT   22 38 37.5   -03 40 51     2.241    1.919   58.4   25.9    65   10.0 
2025-01-03 00:00 UT   22 40 37.7   -03 30 34     2.248    1.917   58.0   25.8    65   10.0 
2025-01-04 00:00 UT   22 42 38.3   -03 20 11     2.255    1.915   57.5   25.6    65   10.0 
2025-01-05 00:00 UT   22 44 39.3   -03 09 42     2.263    1.914   57.0   25.5    65   10.0 
2025-01-06 00:00 UT   22 46 40.8   -02 59 09     2.270    1.912   56.5   25.4    65   10.0 
2025-01-07 00:00 UT   22 48 42.6   -02 48 30     2.277    1.910   56.0   25.3    65   10.0 
2025-01-08 00:00 UT   22 50 44.8   -02 37 45     2.285    1.909   55.5   25.1    65   10.0 

    Terminology:
            
    delta:  distance between minor planet and earth in AU
    radius: distance between minor planet and sun in AU
    magn:   magnitude (brightness) estimate    
    ra:     right ascension in hours (24h = 360deg)
    dec:    declination in degrees
    elong:  elongation in degrees (angle sun-earth-minor planet)    
    phase:  phase angle in degrees (angle sun-minor planet-earth)        
    AU:     Astronomical Unit (mean distance between earth and sun: 149597870.7 km
    

Orbital elements provided by the MPC (Minor Planet Center).
Calculations by a modified version of AAPlus, a C# implementation of the AA+ project by PJ Naughter from the algorithms presented in the book "Astronomical Algorithms" by Jean Meeus.
NGC2000 dso catalog and star labels from VizieR as provided by the Strasbourg astronomical Data Center.
Tycho2 catalog from the ESO archive.